By Jay Betsill
Legendary golf writer Dan Jenkins wrote a story in the December issue of Golf Digest that is headlined “My Interview With Tiger*” with a subtitle reading “*Or how it plays out in my mind.”
On Tuesday, Tiger Woods responded with a first-person post on The Players’ Tribune the website started by former New York Yankees great Derek Jeter the day after he retired from Major League Baseball. Tiger called Jenkins’ piece “a grudge-fueled piece of character assassination.”
Jenkins, who was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011, has long been a critic of Woods due in no small part to how Woods has handled the media.
“I let plenty of things slide. But this time I can’t do that,” Woods said in his response. “The sheer nastiness of this attack, the photos and how it put false words in my mouth just had to be confronted.”
After Woods’ story was published, Jenkins tweeted back to him: “My next column for Tiger: defining parody and satire. I thought I let him off easy.”
Glenn Greenspan, Woods’ publicist, told ESPN in reply to Jenkins’ tweet: “The excuse from Jenkins and Digest that this is satire is even more deceitful. Journalists can’t just add an asterisk or a question mark to any slander that they dream up and call it appropriate.”
Golf Digest responded to Golf Channel: “The Q&A is clearly labeled as ‘fake,’ both on our cover and in the headline. The article stands on its own.”
Woods, who has not played since missing the cut at the PGA Championship, is scheduled to return in two weeks at the Hero World Challenge at Isleworth.
